I
have to say, despite the flurry of preparing for this course and
the feeling that I’m flying by the seat of my pants (not
to mention my fears of a technology meltdown or a meltdown of
nerves), the first three weeks have been exhilarating. Thus far,
the technology in the Meyer classroom has been stellar and the
student’s participation and work has been equally stellar.
My own efforts have been effective, I think, given the results
of the first two assignments.
For
more information about Rebecca's course, look at
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The theme of my PWR
2 course, “Spectacular
Rhetoric: Electric Billboards, Corporate Identity, Corporate Persuasion,”
requires that students unwrap as well as reproduce their own version
of the often tongue-in-cheek transparent and sometimes subtle
rhetoric in contemporary advertising, particularly, as seen in
the latest trend in billboards, the Spectacular. After doing some
reading and viewing a film examining the rhetorical strategies
of marketing campaigns in general, I assigned my students a rhetorical
analysis essay of a static billboard (e.g., without any moving
images or flashing lights) as a way of “breaking the ice”
with what is for many of them “uncharted territory”
(e.g., they see the ads, but they don’t give them much thought).
The essays were then presented as 5 minute oral presentations
with minimal visual aid (one static image of the billboard either
as a projection on the big screen, as a poster, or as a handout).
As I said, my purpose with this two part assignment was to introduce
students to the theme (Spectacular Rhetoric) and goals (refining
their skills in the rhetoric of writing and oration) of the course.
In addition, the essay was to pick up where they left off in PWR
1 – I told my students they had to write this essay as well
as they wrote their final essay in PWR 1. I am very pleased with
the results of both assignments. The students wrote strong essays
reflecting the success of their PWR 1 courses, and they incorporated
much of the language introduced to them in the readings I assigned
in the first week of class. The oral presentations were courageous,
especially since the majority of my students have never given
one before and they had less than a week to prepare.
I feel more confident
in my ability to teach PWR 2, but I’m still faced with the
most difficult challenge for this course and its theme, the final
project, which will incorporate the students’ new understanding
of the rhetoric of advertising into a reproduction of it in their
own multi-modal presentations. How this final project will play
out remains a mystery as well as my most challenging task. Yet,
the success of the past three weeks has left me feeling more excited
than anxious about persevering through these challenges. I look
forward to the work my students are going to produce as well as
the journey on which this course will take us.
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